arm of a natural
river, the Tournemine, which unites with several other streams beyond
the suburb of Rome. These little threads of running water and the two
rivers irrigate a tract of wide-spreading meadow-land, enclosed on all
sides by little yellowish or white terraces dotted with black speckles;
for such is the aspect of the vineyards of Issoudun during seven months
of the year. The vine-growers cut the plants down yearly, leaving only
an ugly stump, without support, sheltered by a barrel. The traveller
arriving from Vierzon, Vatan, or Chateauroux, his eyes weary
with monotonous plains, is agreeably surprised by the meadows of
Issoudun,--the oasis of this part of Berry, which supplies the
inhabitants with vegetables throughout a region of thirty miles in
circumference. Below the suburb of Rome, lies a vast tract entirely
covered with kitchen-gardens, and divided into two sections, which bear
the name of upper and lower Baltan. A long avenue of poplars leads from
the town across the meadows to an ancient convent named Frapesle, whose
English gardens, quite unique in that arrondissement, have received
the ambitious name of Tivoli. Loving couples whisper their vows in its
alleys of a Sunday.

Traces of the ancient grandeur of Issoudun of course reveal themselves
to the eyes of a careful observer; and the most suggestive are the
divisions of the town. The chateau, formerly almost a town itself with
its walls and moats, is a distinct quarter which can only be entered,
even at the present day, through its ancient gateways,--by means of
three bridges thrown across the arms of the two rivers,--and has all
the appearance of an ancient city. The ramparts show, in places, the
formidable strata of their foundations, on which houses have now
sprung up. Above the chateau, is the famous tower of Issoudun, once the
citadel. The conqueror of the city, which lay around these two fortified
points, had still to gain possession of the tower and the castle; and
possession of the castle did not insure that of the tower, or citadel.

The suburb of Saint-Paterne, which lies in the shape of a palette beyond
the tower, encroaching on the meadow-lands, is so considerable that in
the very earliest ages it must have been part of the city itself. This
opinion derived, in 1822, a sort of certainty from the then existence of
the charming church of Saint-Paterne, recently pulled down by the heir
of the individual who bought it of the nation. This c